in case you're interested in the saisa (south asia international school association) world of chennai/madras, here's a bit of a daily log from the last couple of days since we arrived down here after our well-managed train journey through two nights on the deccan plateau... (thanks, james, for all of your sage and useful advice before departing!!)
Friday Afternoon:
we've arrived in chennai all safe and sound. jet air flight from k'du to delhi was elegant, refined with a personal tv behind each seat to enjoy the latest mtv hits. local transport guided us to a healthy dinner en route to the train station for our 10:30 departure.
to say the least, it was a rolling, pre-colonial journey by train for 36 hours down along the length of mother india. although we had a moment of uncertainty in the delhi train station as we gathered around our bags to protect our belongs, not knowing how risky the travel would be, while an indian man covered in chains and locks on the rail queue sold us some to protect our bags along the way, once
aboard the travel was easy, albiet confined.
as it turned out, there wasn't much need for either the chains or locks, as most of us had our own train carriage where we gathered for the whole journey. a few others were a couple of carriages below, giving us the opportunity at the occasional station to pop off and stroll down to visit our friends. during the day, the boys
read, played cards, watched movies on the computer, ate and slept as rural india sailed by outside our windows...
i shared a compartment with a gentle indian government civil servant in our two bunk curtained alcove. he was a devout christian who spent much of the journey reading the bible (acts, mostly...) when he didn't want me to explain some aspects about robert oppenheimer, since i was reading kai bird's wondrous and historically insightful book, 'american prommetheus', he gave me for the long journey through the indian night.
right now, the boys have just had lunch and are relaxing in the pool. chris and i are going to our hotel to rest and then see what's up this evening. the first game is tomorrow at 11 am ag. islamabad, then karachi in the afternoon. delhi is the big game first thing on saturday morning! ez looks good, but we'll see how he feels tomorrow. i think it'll be hard to keep him off the pitch -- but it all depends on how the ankle feels tomorrow. let's see...
Saturday Morning Update:
three games down and lincoln is 2-1-0. they beat islamabad and karachi convincingly yesterday, but just tied delhi this morning. this afternoon they play mumbai.
given their record, they will most likely go to the semi-finals tomorrow. most likely it'll be they and delhi from their division and dhaka and lahore from the other division. if ls beats bombay then they'll probably play dhaka in the semi-final. if they beat them, it'll be either delhi (again) or lahore in sunday's final.
ezra, however, didn't even suit up this morning. he was on the sidelines yesterday, at times hoping to go in even for a brief period. but he's come to realize that he won't play in this saisa, regretfully. he doesn't feel his ankle is ready. this
morning he was in good spirits working w/ his replacement in the goal, chris boyer (who's played very well.
the coaches, luke and sam, are in a good state of mind. the lincoln team has played some of the best football of the tournement according to other coaches. they've kept the ball on the ground, controlled the game and attacked up the flanks. they lost some of the attention against delhi who put up serious pressure from the start of the game, but they held their own. there is much ahead, but they can be proud of what they've achieved.
last night, after the games, chris & i wandered along the long wind-swept beach at sunset with the families out on the beach, then wandered through some poorer beachfront homes to attend an outdoor tamil catholic mass with a sense of grace and sanctity in the full moon air. amazing how chistian tamil nadu seems to have become. we're told the state is 40% hindu, 30% muslim and 30% xian. quite a nice balance as things go. we walked amid some of the older parts of the city that are quite peaceful & lovely in that tranquil somewhat delapidated way of old india.
but the new development areas south of chennai, where the school is, looks more like menlo park, california or a european industrial park. big 10 story gleaming, new office buildings dominating the horizon right next to the school, overlooking the football pitch. this is the incredibly westernized, vibrant, untraditional india
that thomas friedman & others have been writing about. pizza huts, subway sandwiches, cell phones, call centers, hyundai factories and growth, growth, growth.
to say the least, a far cry from the reality of our petite and struggling, slip-sliding kathmandu, still twisting and turning in its own painful and uncertain metamorphosis from the 19th century.
of course, some of us still have a soft spot for that hand-drawn cup of south indian coffee and a masala dosa on a banana leaf plate while watching the dusky old women in saris slice their ivory coconuts on the side of the street while the dark tamil men with ponderous moustaches dressed in lungis drive their auto-rickshaws up the straw-laden lanes...
Saturday Late Afternoon:
ok, for those who may be interested: here is a live email broadcast from chennai/madras, where the lincoln boys football team has turned back a vigorous effort by bombay, 2-0, to end at the top of their division with a 3-1-0 record. undefeated in their group stage and now on to the semi-finals tomorrow morning.
we haven't heard the final results from the other group yet, but most likely it'll be lahore and dhaka in the semi-finals w/ lincoln and delhi. if lahore tops their group, then ls will play dhaka in the semi-final, while if dhaka tops, then they'll play lahore to get into the finals tomorrow afternoon.
reports have it that lahore may be the strongest team in the other group. they tied w/ dhaka 1-1 while coasting over the other opposition (basically chennai varisty and and chennai junior varsity). either way, lincoln will need to be up and ready for both games tomorrow.
unfortunately, there may have been a major injury this afternoon. dulak tenzing, the prime play-maker and the virtual winner of last year's final with his penalty in the last minutes of the game. he took a painful fall while piroutting to the goal late in the first half against bombay and fell to the ground with intense screaming. when he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher, it seemed like his
saisa season was already over, alas. he's gone to the hospital for x-rays, but it's seriouslly unlikely that he'll be on the pitch tomorrow for lincoln.
besides dulak, nick has a siatica, while drissa (our cameroonian defender) has a bad foot and ezra didn't even suit up for today's games. so, it'll be back to teh core of the team to carry them on in the semi-final against dhaka (the lahore goalie just informed me...), then, en challah, against either lahore or delhi in the final tomorrow afternoon!!
besides all of this excitement, chris and i snuck away to the madras museum at mid-day to see their incredble, world-class collection of 2 C BC to 2 C AD amaravati aniconic buddhist stone carvings and 14th-17th C hindu chola bronzes, with some exceptional, mind-boggling 4' nataraj statues that were nearly divine. truly one of the magnificent specialized south asia art collections in ze known world. beautiful!!
these are the sights and sounds of modern chennai and ancient madras. quite a world of contrasts here in tamil nadu! it's a few days off from my work at the human rights commission, but i think that it's more than a fair trade to spend time, instead, with my son, his friends, our kids, their lives, their dreams and, most especially, their joys...
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Reflecting on One's Own Son... Ezra at 15... A Recommendation for NMH
What are your educational goals for your son or daughter (long-range and/or short-range goals), and how do you see Northfield Mount Hermon as a contributor in reaching these goals?
Ezra has been an excellent student his whole life. He is a very creative, intelligent and hard-working student who has done well on both his academics as well as standardized tests. We hope that NMH will bring out the best characteristics and talents within our son. In this respect, even as a young man, Ezra has already expressed his interest in film and film-making. I don't know if this will become his eventual academic or career choice (if he can't play professional soccer...), but, clearly, there is deep philosophic and artistic side to Ezra that has always been evidenced in his writing, his ideas and conversation.
Although, it would be hard for us to have both of our sons far away in the US, we believe that Ezra needs challenges, academically, athletically and socially that he can no longer find in Nepal. Our experience with our eldest son, Joshua, who is now at NMH has been mostly quite positive. Although Josh was seriously lonely and homesick when he returned to NMH after his recent New Year break here at home, we still feel that the challenges and opportunities that a school like NMH offers him outweighs the short-term pain of being far from home. As I said, it's not an easy choice for us, but one that we feel Ezra will thrive in once he fully decides to make this life-forming transition and move toward his future in the States.
We also feel that it is important for Ezra to begin his adjustment to American society and culture, since he has spent his whole life with us in Kathmandu. This has given him a unique, multi-faceted, cross-cultured insight into the USA from a distance, but we believe that he needs to also appreciate and understand the States from the inside.
Finally, we believe that NMH's emphasis on a wholesome head, heart and hands education is the basis for wise living, as well.
Are there any experiences that have influenced your son or daughter of which we should be aware?
Ezra is the son of a multi-cultural family with his mother from a Buddhist-Hindu Nepali family and his father from a Jewish-American family. Ez was born in Bangkok then has spent his whole childhood and youth in the diversity of modern Kathmandu. In this regard, Ez adjusts to new & different cultural or social situations quite quickly and easily. He has always had friends from around the world and enjoys the rich range of experiences he's gained during his young life.
Yet, due to a cultural reality, although Ezra is the son of a Nepali mother and an American father, he cannot be a Nepali citizen. Nepali custom does not recognize mixed children like Ezra as cultural Nepalis or, legally, as Nepali citizens For that reason, as well, it is essential that Ezra, like Joshua before him, begins to integrate within the more open and accepting American society.
Also, because of Nepal's recent traumatic political history, Ezra has grown up in a time of revolution and profound political uncertainty in Nepal. There are still many deep, historical troubles here now with six hours a day of load-shedding (no electricity), petrol shortages, water shortages and serious strikes and demonstrations caused by the unstable political situation in the country. There is a constitutional assembly election planned for April this year, but anything can happen between now and then. Throughout these years, Ezra has been a keen observer, up close and personal, of these historical changes in Nepal and the Himalaya.
Also, since both Shakun & I work with human rights issues in the country, Ezra is well aware of social disparities, as well as the issues of poverty and cultural identity that are painfully alive in Nepal and around the world. Ez has travelled with us to rural and isolated parts of Nepal over the years to see for himself the economic poverty and the social crisis that continue throughout the nation. He is familiar with a wide range of ethnic identities in Nepali society. As a Nepali speaker, he is also able to converse individually with people here to personally connect with their lives. I believe that Ezra will bring this global consciousness and concern to his classroom studies in America.
Has your son or daughter experienced any social, emotional, or academic difficulties? If yes, please explain.
Basically, Ezra needs greater stimulus and challenge in his education. He is easily bored by less creative or intelligent teachers. He has done well at Lincoln School but, increasingly, finds the level of teaching less inspirational. As there are only 270 students in total at Lincoln (from KG to 12th grade), the student body is quite small and the choice of courses limited. Besides this, Ez hasn't had any social, emotional or academic difficulties. In fact, Ezra is remarkably intuitive and sensitive to others. He understand and empathizes effortlessly with a wide range of people from all cultures, as well as all ages. He converses as easily with a six year old as he does with a sixty year old. That's always been one of Ezra's refreshing and surprising qualities since he was a young boy.
The only major issue, of course, could be the distance from his family. But with his older brother with him, I think that they both will be stronger and more content together at NMH.
Ezra has been an excellent student his whole life. He is a very creative, intelligent and hard-working student who has done well on both his academics as well as standardized tests. We hope that NMH will bring out the best characteristics and talents within our son. In this respect, even as a young man, Ezra has already expressed his interest in film and film-making. I don't know if this will become his eventual academic or career choice (if he can't play professional soccer...), but, clearly, there is deep philosophic and artistic side to Ezra that has always been evidenced in his writing, his ideas and conversation.
Although, it would be hard for us to have both of our sons far away in the US, we believe that Ezra needs challenges, academically, athletically and socially that he can no longer find in Nepal. Our experience with our eldest son, Joshua, who is now at NMH has been mostly quite positive. Although Josh was seriously lonely and homesick when he returned to NMH after his recent New Year break here at home, we still feel that the challenges and opportunities that a school like NMH offers him outweighs the short-term pain of being far from home. As I said, it's not an easy choice for us, but one that we feel Ezra will thrive in once he fully decides to make this life-forming transition and move toward his future in the States.
We also feel that it is important for Ezra to begin his adjustment to American society and culture, since he has spent his whole life with us in Kathmandu. This has given him a unique, multi-faceted, cross-cultured insight into the USA from a distance, but we believe that he needs to also appreciate and understand the States from the inside.
Finally, we believe that NMH's emphasis on a wholesome head, heart and hands education is the basis for wise living, as well.
Are there any experiences that have influenced your son or daughter of which we should be aware?
Ezra is the son of a multi-cultural family with his mother from a Buddhist-Hindu Nepali family and his father from a Jewish-American family. Ez was born in Bangkok then has spent his whole childhood and youth in the diversity of modern Kathmandu. In this regard, Ez adjusts to new & different cultural or social situations quite quickly and easily. He has always had friends from around the world and enjoys the rich range of experiences he's gained during his young life.
Yet, due to a cultural reality, although Ezra is the son of a Nepali mother and an American father, he cannot be a Nepali citizen. Nepali custom does not recognize mixed children like Ezra as cultural Nepalis or, legally, as Nepali citizens For that reason, as well, it is essential that Ezra, like Joshua before him, begins to integrate within the more open and accepting American society.
Also, because of Nepal's recent traumatic political history, Ezra has grown up in a time of revolution and profound political uncertainty in Nepal. There are still many deep, historical troubles here now with six hours a day of load-shedding (no electricity), petrol shortages, water shortages and serious strikes and demonstrations caused by the unstable political situation in the country. There is a constitutional assembly election planned for April this year, but anything can happen between now and then. Throughout these years, Ezra has been a keen observer, up close and personal, of these historical changes in Nepal and the Himalaya.
Also, since both Shakun & I work with human rights issues in the country, Ezra is well aware of social disparities, as well as the issues of poverty and cultural identity that are painfully alive in Nepal and around the world. Ez has travelled with us to rural and isolated parts of Nepal over the years to see for himself the economic poverty and the social crisis that continue throughout the nation. He is familiar with a wide range of ethnic identities in Nepali society. As a Nepali speaker, he is also able to converse individually with people here to personally connect with their lives. I believe that Ezra will bring this global consciousness and concern to his classroom studies in America.
Has your son or daughter experienced any social, emotional, or academic difficulties? If yes, please explain.
Basically, Ezra needs greater stimulus and challenge in his education. He is easily bored by less creative or intelligent teachers. He has done well at Lincoln School but, increasingly, finds the level of teaching less inspirational. As there are only 270 students in total at Lincoln (from KG to 12th grade), the student body is quite small and the choice of courses limited. Besides this, Ez hasn't had any social, emotional or academic difficulties. In fact, Ezra is remarkably intuitive and sensitive to others. He understand and empathizes effortlessly with a wide range of people from all cultures, as well as all ages. He converses as easily with a six year old as he does with a sixty year old. That's always been one of Ezra's refreshing and surprising qualities since he was a young boy.
The only major issue, of course, could be the distance from his family. But with his older brother with him, I think that they both will be stronger and more content together at NMH.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
The Joys of Bamboo While Thinking of a Son Far Away
it's saturday morning. i've been in the garden wandering around. it's peaceful in the cool winter light. i've been trimming the peach & apricot trees the past couple of weeks. it's a lovely hard wood that i'll test out in our new nepali 'chulo' (stove) in the back study in a month after it's dried. at times like these, i feel like a hoary new england farmer bringing in my own firewood preparing for the winter warmth inside.
still, no matter the latent joys of these semi-tropical himalayan winters, the chill in the air this week hasn't dissipated. for that reason, i look forward to the warmth of spring in late february and early march. with a bit of moisture our bamboo will start popping up again, sheathed shoots appearing like spears from the dormant earth.
i was looking at our 30' p. henonis, which runs along the west wall (hiding karma lama's four story home...), with shekar, our long-term man friday. i was imagining stretching that grove, which is only 1.5 m. from the wall, to another 3 m. out by moving the narrow water channel that drains the yard further to let the p.henonis run in a wider grove b/n our home and the neighbors. we've got a row of 20' tajik deodars there, as well, but there's room to let the bamboo stretch its rhizomes and give us an even more beautiful phyllostachus grove along the side of the house.
as they say, everything in its own season. i'll talk to shaku about it and think for a week or two before making a decision.
the past few days, i've had shekar and tek transplant some smaller bamboo to get it ready for the rains later in the year. one is a shorter, thinner phyllostachus that we brought from bali a decade ago. it's created a lovely 15' border hedge on our farm land to the west. we also moved some along the stone wall that separates our properties.
then, i moved some 'japro', a reedy, grass-like fernleaf bambusa along a wire fence separating us from another neighbor. the 'jappro' grows in small clumps and reaches 6'. it can be braided within the wire fence and create a solid green boundary. In a few years, if i'm patient, the back yard will be as lovely & settled as the front, but with its own natural ambience...
the other week, we had a shabat w/ a new friend who came to me through our friends, eli & carmela schwartz from jerusalem. eli was a doctor at the local clinic when shaks & i were getting married and he wisely & gently guided us during pre-maritial anxiety...
micha's originally from l.a. via yale to nyc and israel. micha's a rabbi-journalist-idealist. he's set up a new organization in nepal for young israelis to come here for four months to learn about nepal and volunteer in community service. he's rented a house near swayambu where the 15-20 kids live and eat communally. he selects the young folk personally so it's an impressive crowd of enthusiastic, intelligent, idealistic post-army youth. there's a mix, too, of those w/ american roots, including a young woman from west viriginia/pennsylvania who went w/ her siblings to israel when they were teenagers w/o their parents! i
the setting was a bit like the last supper w/ reb micha presiding over gentle prayers and a lot of teasing and fun. leah came with us and ez came later after his soccer practice. shira & gil, the british/israelis who've been here a couple of years (she teaches science at lincoln), were there w/ their young daughters. good fun and relaxing and a surprisingly jewish gathering for our particularly hindu-buddhist kathmandu.
as for our american son, josh seemed to have settled back in to nmh. he's excited by his english literature class, although may not want to stick to his ap computer science. he doesn't seem eager to have the intense pressure of an ap course which sounds very demanding given the brilliant geeks in the class. you know me, i'd advise him to study what he'd enjoy. i don't want him under too much pressure. he's talking to his advisor and thinking about doing spanish or something else. i don't know exactly what to advise him from here. unless he really wants to learn spanish, i'm not sure that it's a wise choice.
as is to be expected, joshua's deeply missing home a lot after two weeks w/ us, his friends, and lisa, who was here from germany ,over the new year. hopefully, after a week or two, he'll feel more grounded again -- although he's wondering about why he wanted to do an extra year of high school and feeling that he'd have more freedom at college. true, in some ways, but nmh offers him so much, as well, if he finds what he enjoys to study. it's not easy going so far away and being on his own. we all feel that. letting one's children go must be one of the hardest aspects of being a parent. going off on one's own far from the nurturing nest of home is, for many children, equally as difficult.
ok, with love for our children always in our hearts, it's back to the garden for this sentimental father. there's a large jacaranda branch that needs to come down so that the drepanstachyum bamboo (himalayan nigalo) can look even more lovely below it...
still, no matter the latent joys of these semi-tropical himalayan winters, the chill in the air this week hasn't dissipated. for that reason, i look forward to the warmth of spring in late february and early march. with a bit of moisture our bamboo will start popping up again, sheathed shoots appearing like spears from the dormant earth.
i was looking at our 30' p. henonis, which runs along the west wall (hiding karma lama's four story home...), with shekar, our long-term man friday. i was imagining stretching that grove, which is only 1.5 m. from the wall, to another 3 m. out by moving the narrow water channel that drains the yard further to let the p.henonis run in a wider grove b/n our home and the neighbors. we've got a row of 20' tajik deodars there, as well, but there's room to let the bamboo stretch its rhizomes and give us an even more beautiful phyllostachus grove along the side of the house.
as they say, everything in its own season. i'll talk to shaku about it and think for a week or two before making a decision.
the past few days, i've had shekar and tek transplant some smaller bamboo to get it ready for the rains later in the year. one is a shorter, thinner phyllostachus that we brought from bali a decade ago. it's created a lovely 15' border hedge on our farm land to the west. we also moved some along the stone wall that separates our properties.
then, i moved some 'japro', a reedy, grass-like fernleaf bambusa along a wire fence separating us from another neighbor. the 'jappro' grows in small clumps and reaches 6'. it can be braided within the wire fence and create a solid green boundary. In a few years, if i'm patient, the back yard will be as lovely & settled as the front, but with its own natural ambience...
the other week, we had a shabat w/ a new friend who came to me through our friends, eli & carmela schwartz from jerusalem. eli was a doctor at the local clinic when shaks & i were getting married and he wisely & gently guided us during pre-maritial anxiety...
micha's originally from l.a. via yale to nyc and israel. micha's a rabbi-journalist-idealist. he's set up a new organization in nepal for young israelis to come here for four months to learn about nepal and volunteer in community service. he's rented a house near swayambu where the 15-20 kids live and eat communally. he selects the young folk personally so it's an impressive crowd of enthusiastic, intelligent, idealistic post-army youth. there's a mix, too, of those w/ american roots, including a young woman from west viriginia/pennsylvania who went w/ her siblings to israel when they were teenagers w/o their parents! i
the setting was a bit like the last supper w/ reb micha presiding over gentle prayers and a lot of teasing and fun. leah came with us and ez came later after his soccer practice. shira & gil, the british/israelis who've been here a couple of years (she teaches science at lincoln), were there w/ their young daughters. good fun and relaxing and a surprisingly jewish gathering for our particularly hindu-buddhist kathmandu.
as for our american son, josh seemed to have settled back in to nmh. he's excited by his english literature class, although may not want to stick to his ap computer science. he doesn't seem eager to have the intense pressure of an ap course which sounds very demanding given the brilliant geeks in the class. you know me, i'd advise him to study what he'd enjoy. i don't want him under too much pressure. he's talking to his advisor and thinking about doing spanish or something else. i don't know exactly what to advise him from here. unless he really wants to learn spanish, i'm not sure that it's a wise choice.
as is to be expected, joshua's deeply missing home a lot after two weeks w/ us, his friends, and lisa, who was here from germany ,over the new year. hopefully, after a week or two, he'll feel more grounded again -- although he's wondering about why he wanted to do an extra year of high school and feeling that he'd have more freedom at college. true, in some ways, but nmh offers him so much, as well, if he finds what he enjoys to study. it's not easy going so far away and being on his own. we all feel that. letting one's children go must be one of the hardest aspects of being a parent. going off on one's own far from the nurturing nest of home is, for many children, equally as difficult.
ok, with love for our children always in our hearts, it's back to the garden for this sentimental father. there's a large jacaranda branch that needs to come down so that the drepanstachyum bamboo (himalayan nigalo) can look even more lovely below it...
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